Apparently Chinese balloons are all the rage right now, as Justin Trudeau ordered NORAD defences to shoot down a balloon over Yukon (and recover operations are now ongoing), and now another “object” has been shot down over Lake Huron in coordination with continental defences. Yes, an American F-22 did the job, but it sounds like that was because it was closer launching from Alaska, whereas our CF-18s launched from Cold Lake, which is much further south (though some have said the F-22 can fly higher than a CF-18, but that doesn’t sound like the reason). This makes a total of four likely balloons being shot down in North American airspace in the past several days. From what I’ve been given to understand, much of the NORAD systems have been calibrated for planes and missiles, so many of these balloons may not have been noticed, but now that we’re noticing them, well, we’re really noticing a lot of them, and shooting them down sends a message to China—assuming that these are theirs, because that is still an open question.

Today, a high-altitude object was detected in U.S. airspace over Lake Huron. NORAD launched Canadian and U.S. aircraft to investigate and the object was taken down in U.S. airspace by U.S. aircraft. We unequivocally support this action.

— Anita Anand (@AnitaAnandMP) February 12, 2023

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/1624886714257879040

for those playing at home, a reminder that the US has not sold the F-22 to any other country, so even if Canadian procurement was super spiffy, Canada would still not have F-22s.

— Steve Saideman (@smsaideman) February 12, 2023

If nothing else, this has been a teaching moment about NORAD, because some people don’t seem to understand how it operates.

Beauty of @NORADCommand. Because binational, doesn't matter if asset used to defeat a threat is 🇺🇸 or 🇨🇦 but the national command authority @CanadianPM must be consulted for defeat in 🇨🇦 and @POTUS in 🇺🇸

— Andrea Charron (@AndreaCharron) February 13, 2023

* not clear yet if the flying object shot down yesterday was from China, but whatever the case, the broad point stands.

— Thomas Juneau (@thomasjuneau) February 12, 2023

There are plenty of questions as to why balloons, and the fact that they may have gone undetected by NORAD systems may be a clue, but it’s been a whole weekend of this.

China be like… pic.twitter.com/hZgVpKTYAS

— Daniel Fiott (@DanielFiott) February 12, 2023

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 355:

Russian forces spent the weekend shelling the eastern part of the country, and in particular Nikopol and Kharkiv, but it also looks like they are having a hard time getting their planned new offensive off the ground. President Volodymyr Zelenzkyy has praised the country’s efforts in restoring their electrical grid after repeated Russian attacks, but says it’s too early to declare victory just yet. Meanwhile, here is a look at Ukraine’s cultural diplomacy, and their calls for cultural sanctions against Russia, which would include banning their athletes from the Olympic Games.

"The Earth is littered with the ruins of empires that once belived they were eternal."
Percy Bysshe Shelley

Total combat losses of the enemy from Feb 24 to Feb 12: pic.twitter.com/tlECTsTA2C

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) February 12, 2023

That's how Soledar, Donetsk Oblast, looks like. It's that "peace" Russians say they are bringing to Ukraine.
Source: @den_kazansky #RuWarCrimes_UW #ISAREdnannia pic.twitter.com/n7Mkc3VIcn

— UkraineWorld (@ukraine_world) February 12, 2023

Good reads:

• Justin Trudeau told a group of nursing students that the immigration department needs to do a better job of accepting temporary visitor visas.
• Trudeau will be heading to the Bahamas this week for the CARICOM meeting.
• There are fresh concerns about Veterans Affairs outsourcing some rehabilitation services to a private sector firm.
• Provincial under-resourcing of the court system is being compounded by slow federal appointments of new judges.
• MPs, the correctional investigator and the Auditor General are all calling out Correctional Services for not doing anything about systemic racism in prisons.
• Here’s a look at the kind of organised system building in the US to funnel asylum seekers to Roxham Road.
• With Toronto mayor John Tory resigning, the Progressive Conservative party in Ontario is mobilising to get one of their own into the mayor’s chair.
• Chantal Hébert tries to sort the winners and losers out of last week’s agreement with the provinces on health transfers.
• Colby Cosh walks through an open letter objecting to the expansion of MAiD that claims the Supreme Court didn’t authorise it, and what the Court actually said.

Odds and ends:

For National Magazine, I talked to defence lawyers about the current bail reform debate, and they have a very different take than what’s being said.

My Loonie Politics Quick Take notes the government’s plan to fast-track the bill to delay MAiD for mental health disorders.

New episodes released early for C$7+ subscribers. This week, I chat with @stephenfgordon about the current economic climate and why the doomsaying may be over the top. #cdnpoli https://t.co/4FjeimQv3T

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) February 13, 2023

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